The antenna performance of mobile terminals has become increasingly important since it comes to the 4G era. Superior antenna performance can bring the users satisfactory mobile broadband experiences, in particular, a preferable receptivity can offer faster download speeds. To improve the antenna performance, the antenna test system is an imperative test platform which plays an indispensable role in the research and development. A typical antenna design loop may include antenna pattern design, test, optimization according to the test results, and re-test, until the optimum performance is achieved. Throughout the whole loop, the test, especially the Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS) test is extremely time consuming. In a typical TIS test, the theta angle of the antenna's turntable needs to be adjusted from 0 to 180° at 30° intervals, meanwhile the angle phi thereof needs to be adjusted from 0 to 360° also at 30° intervals, such that the total test duration for a single channel can be up to 60 minutes. Nevertheless, high-efficiency antenna test systems can help the developers obtain the optimum antenna performance in the shortest time.
In fact, the frequency bands and formats of mobile terminals have largely increased since the 4G era, in contrast with the past. For example, a typical mobile terminal featuring 5 modes and 12 frequency bands with China Mobile can support a total of 5 modes including GSM/WCDMA/TD-SCDMA/FDD-LTE/TDD-LTE, and 12 frequency bands including B1/2/3/7/5/8/17/34/39/38/40/41, providing a coverage ranging from 700 MHz to 2.6 GHz, leading however to a significant increase in the test difficulty and duration. Using the standard over-the-air (OTA) test methodology mandated by Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) criteria to measure performances including the Total Radiated Power (TRP) and the Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS) for the 12 frequency bands, an average of 12×90×3 minutes, i.e., 3240 minutes=54 hours would be required (For each channel, the TRP measurement would take 30 minutes, whilst the TIS 60 minutes, and for each frequency band, 3 channels including the upper, middle, and lower need to be measured according to the CTIA test methodology). Furthermore, these tests need to be performed continuously during the commissioning phase, and multiple prototypes (usually more than 5) drew from multiple batches have to be tested during the production validation phase. The anechoic chamber used for OTA tests, rather, may typically cost up to 10 million RMB, with the test price ranging from 1000-3000 RMB per hour. The lengthy test may probably cause enormous cost and pressure on the test resources.
Hence the prior art has yet to be improved and developed.